Otherwise known as an Annual Self Assessment is a means of declaring your income, costs and profits to HMRC, for anybody that earns income outside of the PAYE system. Once your full income for the year has been established, with costs and any tax deducted at source omitted, the tax due on your taxable profits can be calculated.

The tax year runs from 6th April to 5th April each year. The Self Assessment and any tax due to HMRC must be submitted by the 31st January of the following year by online.

HMRC will charge you a financial penalty.

VAT (Value Added Tax) is a tax that’s charged on most goods and services that VAT-registered businesses provide in the UK. VAT is charged when a VAT-registered business sells to either another business or to a non-business customer. When a VAT-registered business buys goods or services they can generally reclaim the VAT they have paid.

Although there is slightly more to it, but if your turnover for the previous 12 months has exceeded £85,000, then get professional advice as it is likely that you must now register.

Yes, voluntary registration is common, but it only benefits certain types of businesses, for instance those who sell zero rated items, but buy standard rated items. A refund can be claimed from HMRC, which has obvious cash flow advantages.

The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) sets out the rules for how payments to subcontractors for construction work must be handled by contractors in the construction industry.Both the contractor and the subcontractor have to register for CIS and there are certain requirements that need to be followed, such as monthly subcontractor returns.

Upon a contractor issuing work to a subcontractor, the contractor will check whether the subcontractor is CIS registered. At this point, the contractor finds out what level of registration the subcontractor has. When a subcontractor invoices the contractor, a percentage of the labour (does not apply to materials) is deducted before paying the remainder of the invoice. This is typically 20%. The contractor pays the amount deducted to HMRC on a monthly basis. At the end of the year, any tax paid by the subcontractor in this manner, is deducted from the amount paid through Self Assessment, as is has been “deducted at source”.

Corporation Tax is a tax on the taxable profits of limited companies and other organisations including clubs, societies, associations and other unincorporated bodies.